Prediction

UPDATE: A prominent Illinois election lawyer who asked to remain anonymous because of his many political clients in Chicago, told the Huffington Post that there may be hope for Emanuel yet.

The Illinois Supreme Court, he said, “would certainly give the Appellate Court respect but I wouldn’t say that they are constrained from reversing their decision.”

That said, Monday’s two-to-one ruling throwing Emanuel’s name off the Chicago mayoral ballot was a major legal set back that dramatically complicated the former White House chief of staff’s run for the post. Rather than seek a rehearing with the appellate court, the Illinois lawyer said he expected the Emanuel campaign to appeal the decision to the state Supreme Court either Wednesday or as early as Tuesday. The Court will likely choose to take the case before the week was over.

“This is a matter of serious importance affecting essentially half of the state of Illinois just because of the population and impact of the economy,” the lawyer said. “So you can expect the Supreme Court will act very quickly. The parties will simply recycle their briefs responding to the appellate court opinion.”

The Chicago News Cooperative reported Monday morning that an Illinois Appellate Court overturned a decision regarding Rahm Emanuel’s Chicago residency. The court reportedly decided Emanuel is not eligible to run for mayor of Chicago because he has not been a resident of the city for one year. More…

There are some stories on the blogosphere that claim it was Comcast. Others claim that Keith resigned and still others claim that he was fired by MSNBC executives. We will undoubtedly hear the truth sooner or later.

KO had gone through about one-half of his $30 million 4-year contract when he was abruptly removed from the MSNBC line-up last night. according to reports about that contract, he will not be able to work any where else until the contract expires. More news from HuffPo…

UPDATE: The New York Times’ Bill Carter reports that Keith Olbermann’s exit from MSNBC was “weeks in the making.” According to Carter, Olbermann and MSNBC have both signed on to an agreement which bars Olbermann from returning to television for a period of time, though he is free to take a job on the Internet or the radio. Olbermann is also not allowed to comment publicly on the specifics of the deal, and there are restrictions on when he can give interviews about his departure.

Carter notes that the terms of the deal are similar to the one NBC struck with Conan O’Brien upon his exit from the network–exactly a year before Olbermann’s.

Original Story:

An MSNBC source told the New York Times‘ Brian Stelter that Olbermann’s exit was “all about what he did after the suspension.”

The network suspended Olbermann last November for donating to three Democratic candidates, including Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, who was shot in Tucson January 8. The suspension brought Olbermann’s already volatile relationship with his bosses to a new low. Instead of apologizing for his actions and keeping quiet (as NBC executives would have liked), the host turned his silencing into a cause celebre, issuing a statement and apologizing to his viewers for “unnecessary drama.” As a result, MSNBC President Phil Griffin threatened to fire Olbermann if he went public with his grievances on other networks.

Whatever the reason for his departure, Olbermann leaves a strained and tense environment behind him, and MSNBC moved quickly to fill the hole in its schedule. Within minutes of the announcement, the network unveiled its restructured evening lineup. Lawrence O’Donnell, host of “The Last Word,” will move to 8 P.M., while “The Ed Show” with Ed Schultz will air at 10 P.M. Rachel Maddow’s program will remain in its 9 P.M. slot.

A source close to MSNBC management said network executives have grown increasingly impressed by O’Donnell and feel he has “grown into the job nicely.” According to the source, Schultz will play well with both the late night and West Coast audiences.

“The debut of the new lineup will be the State of the Union, with Lawrence now the central player,” the source said. More…

NBC News rules explicitly bar employees from making political donations without prior approval, which is ostensibly why Griffin suspended Olbermann. But according to one NBC News insider, it’s common knowledge within the organization that MSNBC’s increasingly left-wing programming and personalities aren’t required to abide by NBC News’ exacting rules—if they were, it would be a much less bombastic and politically charged network. So while Olbermann’s donations may have run counter to the NBC News brand and Griffin’s wishes, there doesn’t appear to be a chapter-and-verse policy applying to MSNBC employees barring them.

“The standards department has told us that MSNBC doesn’t answer to NBC News standards,” the insider said. “They don’t have coverage over MSNBC. They used to, back before MSNBC went political, but at some point it became too hard and MSNBC was taken out of their portfolio. As far as I know, there are no ethical standards at MSNBC. And if NBC says MSNBC is supposed to be living up to the NBC News standards, that’s a preposterous lie.” Continue reading…

MSNBC has suspended star anchor Keith Olbermann following the news that he had donated to three Democratic candidates this election cycle.

“I became aware of Keith’s political contributions late last night. Mindful of NBC News policy and standards, I have suspended him indefinitely without pay,” MSNBC president Phil Griffin said in a statement.

In a statement earlier Friday, Olbermann defended his donation, saying, “I did not privately or publicly encourage anyone else to donate to these campaigns nor to any others in this election or any previous ones, nor have I previously donated to any political campaign at any level.”

Griffin’s statement underscores that it was Olbermann’s failure to obtain approval, and not the actual political donations, that prompted the suspension.

The move is doubly significant in that it represents a major development in the relationship between Griffin and Olbermann, who once told the New Yorker, “Phil thinks he’s my boss.”